Animated toy simulating real or fanciful creature

ABSTRACT

The toy has a head and an elongated body. The lower wall of the toy is composed of suede and frictionally resists movement thereof across a surface on which the toy is positioned. The upper wall is composed of material such as natural fur, synthetic fur, shag, felt, fabric, cloth, plush or velvet. When a hand is moved along the length of said upper wall to apply a downward pressure therealong, the toy undulates as it travels across a surface to simulate the movement of a real or fanciful creature.

This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/860,317 filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Jun. 4, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to toys which simulate real or fanciful creatures and more particularly to a toy which, when resting on a surface and when stroked by a hand, travels across a surface while undulating in a way which simulates the movement of a real or fanciful creature.

2. The prior Art

Soft toys in the form of creatures such as dragons, dinosaurs, farm and domestic animals are commonly composed of a soft outer layer of cotton and a stuffing of soft material such as cotton batten. Such toys may have parts which move relative to other parts but in general they do not move in a way which simulates the natural movement of such creatures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

I have invented a soft toy which when stroked travels across a surface while undulating in a way that simulates the natural movement of many real creatures. Briefly the toy of my invention has oppositely facing upper and lower walls. The lower wall is composed of suede which travels across a surface when a hand is passed along the length of the upper wall to apply downward force thereto. The toy is composed of material of sufficient flexibility that the toy undulates when the hand is moved in this way. Such movement may be caused solely by the downward force or may he caused by static electricity produced when the hand moves along the toy.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The toy of the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the toy;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of a first embodiment of the toy;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of a second embodiment of the toy; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of the toy showing the way in which it is activated.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the toy.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the toy has oppositely facing upper and lower walls 10, 12. A pair of buttons 14, 16 is stitched to the upper wall to simulate the eyes of a real or fanciful creature. Instead of buttons, the eyes can be painted or embroidered on the upper wall or they can be formed on separate material and sewn onto the upper wall.

The toy may be composed of shag having a long rough nap on its upper surface to simulate the fur of a real or fanciful creature. Alternatively the upper surface of the toy may be composed of velvet with a shorter nap to simulate a smooth coat. Natural fur, synthetic fur, felt, fabric, cloth, and plush are also suitable.

The lower wall of the toy is composed of suede which is preferably somewhat rough so that it holds or clings by means of fiction to a surface on which the toy rests when a hand applies downward pressure to the upper wall of the toy.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, stuffing 20 is inserted in the area of the head of the toy in order to give height to the head.

The toy is formed of material which is sufficiently flexible that when a hand is passed along the length of its upper wall, the toy undulates, Such action is illustrated in FIG. 4. In that drawing, hand 20 moves away from the head 22 of the toy in the direction of arrow 24. The band presses downward on the upper wall of the toy and causes the area 26 of the lower wall directly beneath the hand to press against area 28 of the surface on which the toy rests. Friction between those two areas causes the toy to adhere or cling slightly to the surface at that point. At the same time) the material of the toy adjacent to those areas flexes upwardly. As the hand moves so too does the location of flexure with resulting undulating or wave-like movement of the material. Surprisingly, the hand also causes the toy to travel along the surface in the direction of arrow 24 at this time.

Static electricity may be produced as the hand moves down the toy and that may aid or indeed may be the sole cause for the wave-like movement. Where static electricity is produced, little or no downward pressure need be applied to the toy. The simple movement of the hand along the upper wall of the toy will usually suffice to produce the desired wavelike movement and to cause the toy to travel along a surface.

It will be understood of course that modification can be made in the structure illustrated and described herein without departing from the scope and purview of the invention as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A toy simulating a real or fanciful creature and comprising a head; and an elongated body, said body having a lower wall composed of suede and an upper portion composed of a material which, when stoked by applying downward pressure along the length of said body with sufficient force to cause a portion of said body to move downward, causes upward flexure of said upper body in the area thereof surrounding said downward portion with resulting travelling of said body along said surface with a rising and falling motion.
 2. The toy of claim 1 wherein said upper portion has an outer wall composed of material selected from the group comprising plush, velvet, natural fur, synthetic fur, shag, felt fabric and cloth.
 3. The toy of claim 1 wherein said suede frictionally resists movement thereof along an uneven surface.
 4. The toy of claim 1 wherein said toy is composed of material of sufficient flexibility such that said toy undulates when a hand is moved along the length of said upper wall to apply a downward pressure therealong.
 5. The toy of claim 1 wherein said toy has an outer wall which surrounds a flexible stuffing
 6. A method of causing a toy simulating a real or fanciful creature to travel along a surface with a smooth rising and falling motion, said toy having upper and lower portions formed into a head and elongated body of said creature, said method comprising the steps of: (i) providing said lower portion with a lower wall of suede; (ii) forming said upper portion of soft material; (iii) placing said toy on the surface; (iv) manually stoking said upper portion along its length with sufficient force to cause a portion of said body to move downward with resulting upward flexure in the area of said body surrounding said downward portion and to cause said toy to travel along said surface.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein said suede of step: (i) is sufficiently rough that it adheres means of friction to a surface on which said body rests.
 8. The method of claim 6 including the step of (v) forming the material of said upper portion lush or velvet.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein said surface of step (iii) is fabric or carpet.
 10. The method of claim 6 wherein said surface of step (ii) frictionally resists movement of toy therealong and which is selected from the group comprising wood and metal. 